You may have noticed by now, that none of my recipes contain any neat salt in the list of ingredients. I love tasty food and enjoy finding ways to flavour the dishes I make without using it. I'm not a saint - along with herbs, spices, garlic, chilli, lemon and lime juice etc, I do use stock cubes and soy sauce for flavouring, but I always buy the reduced salt versions.
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The main reason for this is that last year, whilst I was on my weightloss journey, my husband had a heart attack aged 50. Last year, he was very overweight and the biggest foodie you can imagine, with some bad eating habits and no intention of changing them. This is going to sound clichéd, but the heart attack was a huge wake-up call and he decided to act on the warning. In ten months, this man has lost 4 and a half stone on the Weightwatchers plan and has walked many many miles. He has taken responsibility for his eating habits and acquired an interest and knowledge of healthy foods. He has also reversed the damage to his heart and is extremely fit and well.
Awesome!
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I have always made tasty food, but now I am having to be a little more creative about the ways I flavour my recipes, especially as they are low-fat too. This has to be the way we eat for ever now so that we don't undo all our good work. I find this reduced salt soy sauce is an absolutely invaluable store cupboard ingredient.(Don't muddle it with 'light' soy sauce when you buy - this is merely thinner, not reduced salt). Obviously, I am careful with the amount I use as it does contain some salt, but the way I see it is that at least soy sauce has antioxidants which can help prevent cardiovascular disease, plus it is rich in lactic acid bacteria.
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Try and think outside the box when using soy sauce. I don't use it solely in Chinese cooking (as you saw in my 'Magical mushroom soup' recipe). It gives a depth and richness to all sorts of dishes and you will often see it in my ingredients lists, so don't be surprised!
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If you are making changes to your diet because you want to be slimmer or healthier, then alongside cutting the fat content right down, it really is worth cutting the salt down too. This can help to prevent, or lower high blood pressure which is one of the main causes of strokes and heart disease. I don't want to be a scare-monger but, like I said in my post about portions ("Problem solved: portion perfection"), we don't do ourselves or the people we love, any favours by overfeeding them. By reducing the fat and salt content in our foods too, we are doing all we can to live a long and healthy life.
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Season with soy!
7 comments:
Great advice Janey and I will be more aware in future.
Thanks Soo . Low fat is great but low fat and low salt even better! X
Cannot find this product i Sainsburys Tesco Holland & B or one other possible source - NADA NIENTE!!!! Help please? Also on lookout for pasta portions but no local Poundland so will have to wait and weigh more! (kitchen, not bathroom!!)
I buy it in all my local supermarkets; Tesco, Morrissons and Sainsburys. May be worth mentioning to customer services and maybe they will get some in for you? Sorry you are having problems finding it. Oh dear on the Poundland front too.......good luck x
Poundland in Nottingham - Nothing! But I have found the Julienne Peeler and just received it from Lakeland since they do not sell it in the shops so I was told. How come your area is so well dated for and mine is not!!!!!
I meant catered for of course.
I did know the peelers are easier to find online but I'm flummoxed about the soy sauce! As for the drainers......I'll see if there are any left in my local one! x
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